Roland was incredibly pleased that Cassian had, in fact, taken him up on his suggestion to come to Krovs for an extended vacation of sorts. They'd been chatting not long ago and while the dragon had complained about the plastic surgery business, Roland had mentioned that perhaps he should take a break and come here. The vampire enjoyed being surrounded by friends and Cassian tended to give him the best kind of attention given how long they'd known each other. It was only fitting that he should have the younger man to his suite shortly after his arrival, especially since his house hadn't been prepared on time and he was staying in some kind of hotel. That would hardly do. Given that Roland had a free evening it only made sense to entertain the old friend he hadn't seen in person in a couple decades. Of course he'd told Cassian he'd have to check in with the guards and have them escort him to the councilmen's residential wing but those were all just details.

Drinks poured to be ready for when Cassian arrived, Roland was settled in a chair to wait, idly scrolling through his phone when the knock came at the door. He called for the dragon to come in and tucked the phone away, smiling as he watched the other man enter. He gave him a moment to take in the surroundings before he pushed himself up and glided over to him. "Bienvenue. Good to see the stress of your American endeavors hasn't aged you too badly." He teased, his smile widening as he reached up to press cool fingertips against non-existent worry lines in Cassian's forehead, letting his touch linger for a long moment before he slid it away slowly. "Do come in and make yourself comfortable. There's a drink on the table for you. I take it you haven't changed your preference in the last couple decades?"

Soren thought there'd been a mistake at first, when he saw the big office being emptied out adjacent to his lab. It had taken clinic gossip to realize he hadn't accidentally been given a spare place and there would be another new doctor in residence -- his superior, in technicality. Cassian Lord. Definitely a formidable name, at least when reading it in passing off of the new placard on the door. Soren tried to put his nerves about the new arrival to bed in the days before the doctor's arrival, comforting himself with the thought that he'd probably only deal with the man in passing when their duties happened to overlap. A bit of small talk about their personal histories, the patient demographics of the area. Soren wasn't even as much help there as the established nurses would be. So he would keep it polite, give the attention he owed the newcomer in a professional capacity. Smooth sailing from there.

Then he heard the word 'dragon' strolling past two of his coworkers at lunch one day and all Soren's easy expectations had tumbled down again. He really wanted to think it was just an exaggerative turn of phrase. He suspected it wasn't. Manners were even more critical, then. The human presented himself mid-afternoon, late enough that the other would have had time to unpacking his things but not so close to the end of the day that Soren would be keeping him from getting home. Trepidation was perhaps the most prominent of his emotions, but Soren somehow felt himself curious as well. There were too many factors he hadn't identified yet.

The biggest lie was the simplest one, the one Soren had already said the most since arriving in Krovstown, rolling easily off his tongue as he hovered in the new doctor's door with his hands clasped behind his back: "Doctor Lord, is it? I'm Ravi Surendra, your - neighbor, of sorts." He gestured over his shoulder to the door leading to his lab, "I wanted to introduce myself and ask how you've been settling in. Can I offer any help?"

Four thousand years was quite a long time to be alive. Four thousand years felt like an eternity having the memory of a dragon. Every face, every name, every place. It was all locked up somewhere in the dark trenches of Rune's mind. It was a blessing and a curse, people he wanted to forget where stuck permanently, and the same went for the ones who he had locked up in his vault tightly.

It was very rare to be locked up in his head, for him to care enough to even act like he remembered their names. It usually boiled down to two things, good sex, or an equally good gift. There was one family that had managed to pin down both. Rune had known the Lord family for far too long, had seen many of them come into the world and out of it, had managed to find a visit whenever he came across their territory during his travels. Good sex, and then the legal aid when he was still trying to get his shit together. He didn't think he owed them, no, but knowing they had multiple uses had somehow made him a good family friend.